Mayor Coleen J. Seng today presented the Mayor's Award of Excellence for 2003 to Thurman Hoskins, Jr., a Community Resource Specialist in the Community Health Services Division of the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department. The award recognizes City employees who consistently provide exemplary service and work that demonstrates personal commitment to the City.

All monthly winners are eligible to receive the annual award. Hoskins was selected as monthly winner in February 2003. He was nominated by Shannon Williams, an Environmental Health Educator, in the category of customer relations. Hoskins has many years of experience in the areas of HIV/AIDs counseling and disease intervention. Williams says that each day, Hoskins sees clients who need help physically, socially and emotionally, and he provides a compassionate, straight forward approach.

"In addition to his technical knowledge of the disease, disease process and treatment, he brings a kind heart and caring way to the clinic setting," Williams wrote in her nomination. "A number of clients have commented that they have received excellent care and were given hope for the future after seeing Thurman. This concern for each client carries over to his respect of fellow employees and the desire to help all people have greater health for the good of the whole community."

The honorable mention award winner is Nancy Brienzo who works in Aging Services’ LIFE (Lincoln Information for the Elderly) office. She was the monthly winner in October 2003 in the category of productivity for her work on the Black Bag Project, which addresses the health needs of elderly people who are home-bound and chronically ill.

As monthly winners, Hoskins and Brienzo have each received a $100 U.S. savings bond, a day off with pay and a plaque. As the annual winner, Hoskins received a $500 U.S. savings bond, two days off with pay and a plaque.

All City employees are eligible for the Mayor's Award of Excellence except for elected officials and some managers. In addition to customer relations and productivity, employees can be nominated in the categories of valor, safety and loss prevention. Individuals or teams can be nominated by supervisors, peers, subordinates and the general public. Nomination forms are available from department heads, employee bulletin boards or the Personnel Department, which oversees the awards program. All nominations are reviewed by the Mayor’s Award of Excellence Committee, which includes a representative with each union and a non-union representative appointed by the Mayor.